Upwards We Fall
by JsprsHunnie
Summary: Jasper never meets Alice, he travels as a nomad. When a tragic accident leaves him with the responsibility of caring for a child he begins to question his fate and hers. How much power does the past hold over the future? Will he ever find the Cullens?
1. Prologue

**Summary:** Jasper never meets Alice in the 50s, instead he travels alone feeding from humans. When a tragic accident leaves him with the responsibility of caring for a human child he begins to question his fate and hers. How much power does the past hold over the future? Will he ever find the Cullens? Rated M for violence.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Jasper. I only wish I did. (I don't own any of the other characters either)

**Warning**: Prepare yourself. I'm opening with a character death.

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_"Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?_

_Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?" ~ Signs (2002)_

_

* * *

_**~ Prologue ~**

She never saw it coming.

_I _never saw it coming.

There were only the headlights cutting through the darkness, illuminating stretches of empty desert, while the rain splattered maliciously against the windshield.

Renee was driving.

I closed my eyes and listened. The rain striking the glass, fat drops that plunked out of sync with the ridiculous tune on the radio. Her heartbeat, thudding steadily in her chest. The heartbeat beneath hers, lighter and faster, a hummingbird's wings…

Renee. _Human._ I wondered how, after years of drenching my hands in the blood of her species, that the closest thing I'd find to family would be a human. And the life, growing inside her womb was just another reminder. She was human. I was not.

With my senses being what they were, I should have seen it coming.

But I didn't.

The coyote materialized out of the darkness.

Renee slammed on the brakes.

She had time to let out one scream before the car flipped into a ditch.

When the car shuddered to a standstill, Renee wasn't moving.

Her chest was uneven; her sternum had broken and her breath was irregular. One of her lungs had stopped working. I could hear blood pooling in the one that remained. Her heart was stuttering; it signaled a curtain call I wasn't prepared for.

Humans were so fragile. This, I knew. But _this_ human had become my reason for existing. Without her, there was nothing. I was nothing.

I begged her not to leave me; but she left anyway.

Her last words were the only thing that kept me sane.

"_My baby."_

I had to save it because it was hers.

I sunk my teeth into her swollen stomach. It was so easy to ignore the warm blood of my beloved's remains, there was no frenzy to feed, only the drive to see a part of her live on.

I was desperate.

But I was too late.

I heard a strangled cry and understood that it was my own.

I lay the infant, a female, beside her dead mother.

I curled up in the mud as the rain pounded relentlessly down.

There was pain; worse than that of my transformation. Knives jabbed around the inside of my skull. Bamboo shards separating my nails from my flesh. My soul became soaked in acid. My unbeating heart began to incinerate inside my chest.

I would not survive this. No one could.

My body shook violently with each sob that escaped my throat.

Where was death when you needed it? When you wanted it?

As I lay there, praying for the end to claim me as well, I heard something unexpected.

A cry in the night.

It wasn't mine.

But it _was_ the only thing that could force me to open my eyes.

I dragged my head, as heavy as it felt, up.

The baby cried as the cold rain struck her vulnerable, impossibly alive, body.

A spark of hope shined through the suffocating black of night.


	2. Welcome to Existence

**Ch. 1 Welcome to Existence**

I tried to cover up Renee's death. She didn't have any family, anyone to report her missing. But I was afraid to let the police find her. They would know a child had been stolen from her body and questions would be asked. It was attention I didn't need. And though I hated myself for doing it, I buried Renee in an unmarked grave in the desert she loved so much. My infallible vampire brain would never let me forget, I would always know the exact place where her body lay; that would have to be good enough.

It was agonizing to think I'd never see her smile again, never hear her laughter ring out. It was pure torment knowing that knowing I would never again hold her in my arms, never feel her warmth sinking into my skin. But I knew how much she cared for the child she carried, and I would not leave that baby alone in the world. I couldn't.

I wasn't naive. I knew there was more to me keeping the child than my attachment to Renee. A part of me knew and understood that I _could_ leave the baby alone in the world and she would be just fine. Some childless couple would adopt her, raise her, _love_ her. She could be normal and happy. But I was afraid.

With Renee gone, I was looking out into a black abyss, and to fall in would mean no return. Left alone, I could very easily succumb to the pain and let myself fall. Suicide wasn't as hard as it looked. Take a bath in an accelerant and light a cigarette. Piss off the wrong coven. Go on a one-way expedition to discover the last werewolves; I heard about a sighting in Poland.

But the more primal part of me, the true vampire self, only ever looks to further its own survival. The baby gave me, the man, a reason to live. The primordial beast _knew_ that. It wanted to live. I could live for _her._ It wouldnt be easy. But I could do it.

Renee hadn't wanted her doctor to tell her the sex of the baby. She wanted to be surprised.

Charles Jasper, for a boy.

Isabella Marie, for a girl.

"Isabella," I whispered.

The name rolled off my tongue so sweetly I could have cried.

Her eyes like un-creamed coffee were too big for her little face; they widened at the sound of her name from my lips.

She was innocence personified.

What a way to enter the world.

_My hands scratched at my chest. My heart was pumping white hot liquid fire through my veins. I couldn't take it anymore. I would stop my own heart if I had too._

_But my heart seemed to have developed a mind of its own. It beat faster, as if it were in a rush to do as much damage as possible before I could kill it. With its accelerated beat, the fire burned hotter._

_I felt a scream tear out of my throat as my heart beat faster still and the fire burned impossibly hotter. I couldn't hear myself scream over the pain._

_Franticly, I clawed at myself, but before I could do any significant damage my heart gave out. _

_My body froze in shock. _

_I was dead._

_I had died._

_But I was still __**thinking.**_

"_Respire, mi dulce," a voice whispered._

_A snarl ripped its way out of my chest and leapt to my feet. I froze with shock again; the sound I'd made belonged to a wild animal, the movements were too fast._

_The woman in the room with me. I knew her face._

_The woman who bit me._

"_Vampire." The word escaped my lips in someone else's voice._

_She smiled._

"_What have you done to me?"_

"_Usted parece a mí."_

_I didn't understand her words._

_I didn't care too._

_I wasn't even aware of making the decision to kill her. I'd never harmed a woman before, but I was sure this was an exception to the rule._

_I was in motion._

_But then so was she._

_My hands reached for her throat._

_I'd throttle her if I had to._

_She moved behind me and her foot collided with the small of my back. My body crashed through the wall._

_I started to stand up._

_To face her again._

_Then I heard it. _

_Heartbeats._

_Three._

_I inhaled in surprise and-_

_My teeth sunk into the father's throat first. I heard his family screaming behind me but I didn't care. The taste was outrageously wonderful. The magic in it, warmed my body. I felt his blood dripping down my face, my neck, my chest and I didn't care. I wanted to bathe in it._

_I went for the mother next. I heard her praying in Spanish. Her prayers would go unanswered. She tasted different. Sweeter. They had flavors._

_The child was a male I felt his tears on my face. I could smell the contents of his bowels had been expelled. I wrinkled my nose in disgust and bit down. His taste wasn't as salty as his father's or as sweet as his mother. A perfect combination of the two. The rich substance flowing from his veins and into my mouth was heaven._

_When the boy ran dry, I surveyed the scene. Slowly, my senses were coming back together and now that I could see, I realized that they had been tied to chairs. I was horrified by my action and I backed away from their lifeless bloodless bodies as fast as I could. I stopped when I felt the wall at my back and I slid to the ground and rocked back and forth sobbing._

_I was a murderer._

_I felt fingertips combing through my hair but this time I didn't have it in me to react. _

"_Shhh… Este es a quién usted es." She whispered. "Bienvenidos a la existencia."_

Isabella's eyes closed. Her breathing changed as she fell deeper and deeper into sleep.

She was so small, I couldn't even feel her weight in my hands. Her body meant nothing in comparison to my strength.

There was nothing to her.

And she was everything.

"Welcome to existence, Little Darlin'."

I inhaled deeply, memorizing her scent.

"I hope you have more luck than I did."

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**Translations in the order they appear.**

"Breathe my sweet."

"You are like me."

"This is who you are."

"Welcome to existence."

**My spanish is probably a little off, so I apologize if there are many mistakes with it, but you get the idea ;-)**

**Also starting a playlist for this story. I'm told its the "it" thing to do for fanfics. Song for this chapter is _Sunshine _by _Keane._**


	3. Where the Wild Things Are

This chapter includes: A time jump (Bella is now 3), Violence, Strong Language

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**Ch. 2 Where the Wild Things Are**

"Tell me Isabella," I ordered, trying to keep the stress off my face. "What do you do if you wake up and I'm not here? Tell me."

I knew she knew. She knew I knew she knew.

She rolled her eyes. "If you not here when I wake, I not _do_ anysing." She let out an irritated huff and crossed her arms. "I stay in'na room. No noise. No strangers. I wait for you."

"Good girl," I told her and tucked her into bed.

"Storwy _now?_" She whined.

I laughed.

She couldn't pronounce "story" but she had no problem learning that "now" word.

I studied her face for the millionth time today. I knew everything about the little girl looking up at me. Every hair on her head, every bruise, every infinitesimal bit of growth, every blush… My God, the blush.

Renee's blush. Everyday she looked more and more like her mother. Except for those big eyes. Renee's eyes had been green and almond shaped. Isabella's warm, wide-eyed gaze was inherited from someone else.

But I also knew that Isabella's blush tonight had nothing to do with an emotional tie. I could feel the heat radiating off of her; she was too hot. I frowned in concern. What appeared to be a head cold was worsening. I'd stop by a pharmacy tonight.

"_Please?"_ She begged.

I smiled.

"What would you like to hear?"

"Wild Things!"

"Alright, Little Darlin'." I told her.

Her body wriggled as she slid her body away from me.

Those brown eyes looked up at me; _Hold me,_ they said. Those eyes that never flinched away from my crimson eyed stare. I lay down next to her, my gaze meeting hers. _Anything for you, _I tried to tell her.

And it was true. I'd do anything for this little girl. Anything.

I draped an arm around her and waited for her to close her eyes before beginning. "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him "Wild Thing" and Max said, "I'll eat you up!" So he was sent to bed without eating anything…" I paused, listening to her breathe through her stuffed nose.

She opened one eye. _What? _It asked me.

"I'm just thinking is all… This Max kid… He's someone I'd like to know."

I chuckled humorlessly while she giggled into my chest.

"That very night in Max's room, a forest grew and grew and grew, until his ceiling hung with vines and walls became the world all around and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the Wild Things are…"

_The newborn lay on the ground wailing._

_It was pathetic._

_They always made that sound, when they realized there was no escape. A high pitched sound, to loud to be a whine, but to pathetic to be anything but a plea. When they started wailing this way, all they could hope for was mercy and it was a vain hope at that because in our world there could never be mercy._

_I stepped on his bare chest, one foot and then the other. I stood on him and looked down, daring him to move me._

_He wailed louder but his body froze in subservience; too little, too late._

_I let out a roar, as if I didn't already have everybody's attention, and spat my surplus venom on the unlucky newborn's face._

"_Listen!" I yelled. "If you pieces of shit can't work it out, I'll spell it for you!"_

_There was silence as ten vibrant red eyes flicked between me and my prey._

"_You fuckers, belong to me! If I give you an order, you follow it! No questions! No objections! If I want your advice I'll ask for it! I'll never ask for it because your opinion means dick!"_

_In a move so fast they almost didn't see it, I reached down and grabbed the newborn's head and ripped it from his body._

"_Get it through you're thick mother fucking skulls!" _

_I snarled and threw the head as hard as I could. It collided with a female newborn, knocking her off of her feet. _

"_You are all expendable! Replaceable!" I leapt toward them and crouched slightly, enjoying their fear as they bumped into one another as they tried to maintain distance between me and them._

"_The only reason you're alive is because you sorry son of a bitches are useful! If you can't govern yourselves, you can burn!" I turned and hurled the body at the fire of growing corpses._

"_Anyone else think they can do my job better? Challenge me now!"_

_I stalked towards them and this time they froze. They knew better than to run from me. I looked them in the face, one by one. Vampires are incredibly instinctual creatures. Instinct told them how to show submission to a dominant force. One by one their eyes met mine and fell to the ground. One by one their necks bowed, turning their faces downward. Submissively trusting that I wouldn't behead them when they weren't looking. But each one of them __**feared**__ that I would. They trembled as I passed by, looking for someone too stupid to submit._

_I froze as a dangerously seductive voice called out in Spanish, except this time I understood the words being spoken. "That's enough."_

_I turned my back on the newborns and stood my ground as she approached. She was giving me the same stare I had given them. This time it was my eyes that dropped to the ground, my head that bowed to her presence._

"_Major Whitlock," she purred. "Did I hear right? They belong to you?"_

_It was pointless to lie. Out of respect, I answered in her tongue._

"_Yes," I growled._

_She growled back. "And whom do you belong to?"_

"_You, Maria."_

_I kept my head down, but lifted it just enough so my searching eyes could find her face. The face that looked so angelic to me as a human, was anything but divine now. Battle scars marred what was once flawless features. Her crimson eyes were hungry, but they were always hungry. Hungry for blood, sex, death, control; you name it, she wanted it._

"_I'll always belong to you."_

_She nodded and smiled._

_I relaxed._

"_What'd he do?" She asked switching to English._

_I didn't say anything. Instead I pointed to the giant pile of wood that used to be the town church, only identifiable by the steeple's cross which had landed a few feet away from the main pile of debris._

_Her eyes narrowed. "That'll be noticed!" She hissed. "No wonder you killed him." Then her eyes flicked to my face. "I expect a replacement by morning."_

"_Yes."_

"_December's newborns are waning. I want them dealt with as soon as possible."_

"_Consider it done."_

_She turned away._

"_Maria?" I took a step after her._

_She didn't turn back to look at me but I knew I had her attention._

"_What about Peter?"_

_She whirled around. She couldn't be more shocked if I had told her to go fuck herself._

"_**Peter**__?" Her lips curled in disgust at the name, as if saying it left a bad taste in her mouth._

_Of course she wouldn't know their names. I did. I knew the name of every newborn that had ever lived and died under my command._

"_One of December's newborns. He's got a talent that might be useful."_

_She was silent a moment._

"_I'll trust your judgment on the matter." Then her eyes narrowed at me. "He's your responsibility. If he slows us down-"_

"_I'll kill him myself."_

As soon as Isabella was asleep I was out the door.

She needed medicine. I needed blood.

After I left Maria I traveled alone for decades. The problem with traveling alone was that only my thoughts kept me company. I had lived to long as a monster. I had so much more time left. The idea of endlessly hunting, in an endless night, alone, after all the bad I'd done, and all the bad I was going to do because my very nature demanded it so…

I'd gotten stupid.

I tried to go as long as I could without hunting.

The results were never good.

I didn't want to be a monster anymore.

But there was no way around it.

When I found Renee everything changed. I couldn't push myself to the brink of insanity by starvation _and_ love her. I'd kill her by accident if I tried. I started hunting people who I deemed less than worthy of the life they'd been given to ease my conscience. Murders, rapists, drug addicts. People who did more harm than good. Drug addicts were the easiest to find. The smell of the toxins in their blood gave them away.

But hunting specific humans takes time.

I could never leave Isabella alone for too long.

She was too young to be on her own. She could very easily get into trouble.

And I couldn't afford to be picky. Not when her life depended upon my being fully sated.

I could walk away from Renee for a day or so when I was too thirsty to be safe.

There was no way to walk away from a child.

It had been too long since I last fed.

I would soon become a danger to Isabella.

I needed blood.

But the pharmacy was closer than my intended hunting grounds.

My nose wrinkled as the chemical scent of medicines stung my nose and resisted the urge to walk back out. I made my way over to the aisle of cold medicines. I waited ten minutes before admitting I was out of my league.

Up until now, Isabella had always been a healthy child. Surprisingly, so. But it meant my familiarity with current pharmaceuticals was nonexistent. I lived in a time where opium was used to treat everything from headaches to amputations and wounds were cleansed with hooch and cauterized with a hot iron.

I waved down the pharmacist.

As instantly as he arrived he was regretting it.

My thirst was growing and his was the only decent scent in the empty store at the moment. My eyes were black as pitch, venom flowed freely, and I couldn't keep my eyes from flickering to his throat. I could imagine what I looked like to him. Torn between my human façade and the animal I would soon become.

"Sh-she's how old?" He asked.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously.

I swallowed back the venom so I could answer.

"Three."

"And she isn't allergic to any meds?"

"No."

"You should try Children's Tylenol Cold & Cough," he said, nodding.

I watched his hand tremble as he reached for the box. Careful not to make contact with his skin, I took the medicine from the pharmacist. He said something about ringing me up, but he made no move toward the counter. It went unsaid, but I knew he didn't want to turn his back on me.

As I left the store, I heard him sigh with relief. I stood in the parking lot, debating who needed what more: Get the medicine to Isabella or soothe my aching throat?

It was an easy decision.

Isabella was asleep and would survive her cold.

She would not survive a vampire attack.

Safety first.

I tucked the box into my coat pocket and set the predator in me free.

It was as easy as breathing. The muscles in my body tightened with its feral expectations all of its own accord. No one would hear me coming. _Their_ ears would never detect my steps as I slunk through the shadows of the city. No one would see me hunting. I moved too fast, too silently, and city dwellers go out of their way to not notice strange occurrences in the night.

I kept moving.

I would not set an ambush tonight.

There was no time for that.

Isabella was alone. Sick. Waiting.

My body reacted to the noise across the street and my back was pressed against a wall.

A woman came out of the office building across the street. She headed straight for a taxi sitting idle on the curb. A man followed her out. He wore a dark business suit and watched her from the doorway.

To the casual observer it was just one co-worker making sure another got safely home. To me it was something else. I could smell the bodily fluids fresh on their warm bodies; the scent of raw sex. I could see the wedding band on his finger and hers.

Late night office rendezvous _and_ adultery.

Whatever happened to morals?

The man turned to lock up as the cab drove off.

Again my body responded.

I crossed the street and stole silently down the walkway.

They make it so _easy_.

Alone at night and morally corrupt.

He turned his eyes met mine. At that moment there was nothing remotely human about me. I wasn't hiding behind the perfect face they thought I had, I was a monster and I looked the part.

He opened his mouth to scream but I closed his jaw with one hand while I tilted his head back with the other. My teeth were at his throat, his soft skin tearing like tissue paper, his warm blood…

I moaned as liquid flowed over my tongue, burning my mouth with its heat while simultaneously cooling my throat with its lush flavor.

I drained him quickly. Tonight was not a night to savor, and honestly, I'd had better. I ran my tongue over the bite wound and watched as my venom knit the skin back together.

I took his wallet and his ring. I snapped his neck.

A mugging gone wrong. That's what the humans would call it. Let the coroner find his own excuse for blood loss.

But I needed more.

One victim would only keep me sated for a few days. I didn't like leaving Isabella alone until I had too. There would have to be another death tonight.

Once my body had its most pressing needed taken care of, my instincts began pulling me back toward my Isabella, to feel the child's warm body safe in my embrace. My instincts craved her well being as much as my mind and heart did.

I took comfort from that, that the monster could love her as much as the man. The man could raise her, the monster could protect her.

So I hoped.

* * *

_**Where the Wild Things Are**_, belongs to the brilliant **Maurice Sendak.**

Song for this chapter is _**This is War **_by **30 Seconds to Mars. **Sometimes I think that band has gone out of its way to create a soundtrack befitting a vampire.

I'm a blog-aholic. If you'd like things like teasers, update notices, and extras, follow my newest blog, dedicated to this fanfiction. The link to the site is on my profile.

Remember: If you read it, review it!


	4. Who Are You Now

**Ch. 3 Who Are You Now?**

I was five minutes from the hotel when the wind changed course, dragging a familiar but unwelcome scent across my path.

Vampire.

My muscles locked down, freezing me in place.

I inhaled deeply, feeling my lungs expand in my chest as I processed this new information on the breeze. My mind began processing the data instinctively and I knew that I could smell three distinct scents. I could estimate where the scents had come from, where they were going and where they had been.

It looked like my guardianship over Isabella would be tested sooner than I thought.

Because I knew there was no way they didn't notice my scent.

If they cared enough to follow it, it would have lead them straight to-

_Isabella._

Anger flooded my heart like it had been doused with boiling water.

Without making a conscious decision I began to run.

I didn't care about witnesses. I didn't care about being outnumbered. I didn't care that vampires fighting to the death in front of human witnesses would bring the law down on my head faster than I could say "Volturi".

And it _would_ be a fight to the death if they went near her, I had no doubt about that.

She was Renee's.

She was _mine._

And if a fight went down with humans around the Volturi _would_ come. They couldn't be allowed to find me. My memories would endanger Isabella. I'd have to die. Kill myself before I could be found. Isabella would be safe among her kind. Someone would find her abandoned and call social services. She could grow up in foster care hating me for leaving her without a goodbye as long as she was alive.

Her life was mine to protect, preserve. I took the responsibility on when I ripped her body from her mother. I knew this could happen. We could be discovered. I'd hoped it could be explained. I still hoped I could explain. But if I couldn't, I would kill. I would sacrifice myself for her.

I went around to the back of the building. Climbed up the wall in seconds and slipped through the window preparing myself for the worst.

I fell to my knees in relief.

Isabella was still sleeping soundly.

I got up and checked the room. They hadn't been in here. They hadn't been curious enough to follow my trail.

_Nomads_?

If they didn't live here they might not be interested in protecting the territory.

She was safe for now.

But we'd have to move on in the morning.

I would not have her living here.

I had to make her safe.

I crawled into the bed beside her overheated body and she instantly rolled over to throw an arm over me. I looked down at Isabella where she snuggled into my chest.

Not for the first time I questioned my actions. She was innocent. How long could she stay that way, living in my world? How safe was she really, with a monster as an adoptive… father? Was that even what I was to her?

I shook my head ridding myself of all thoughts except for counting every beat her heart gave, every breath her lungs took. I shoved my worries into a back corner where they could fester without being acknowledged.

She was safe.

"_Shhh… Charlie, you're safe. You're safe now Charlie."_

_I listened to Peter croon to a sobbing newborn. I ran my tongue over my arm, using my venom to speed the healing process. I spit the flavor of the stranger's venom from my mouth._

_I turned to see Peter licking the wounds of a newborn that had survived the fight._

_I could understand his fascination with her. She looked like a Christian painting of Mary Magdalene. She was tall and slender when she was on her feet. Long pale red hair ran down to the small of her back and fell over her shoulders like silk curtains on either side of her face. The profile of her face was severe, sharp angles dominating until you looked at her straight on. Only then could you look past the high cheekbones, the sharp nose, to see the graceful curve of her cheeks, the gentle pout of her lips, her eyebrows elegantly arching over her eyes making her face undeniably seraphic._

_I understood his fascination._

_I didn't condone it._

"_Get the bitch to her feet!" I snapped at him._

_He looked at me, his face darkening at my words._

"_If she can't get up she's useless and you can add her to the pyre."_

_I turned my back on him walking toward where our enemies smoldered._

_We had taken another city, adding to the Maria's growing collection._

_Our attack had been swift, silent, and above all, successful. _

"_C'mon, Charlotte," I heard Peter whisper, hoisting the newborn with the saintly face to her feet._

_She whimpered in pain, but didn't object. At least she learned quickly._

"_Peter?" I called without turning to look at him._

_His footsteps paused._

"_Be careful." I warned. "I like you."_

_There was no sound behind me, so I turned to look at him._

_I nodded to Charlotte. "You know how Maria feels about pets. Get permission from __**her**__ before you get attached."_

_I felt his hatred. Of Maria? Of me? I wasn't sure. I didn't care._

_I turned my back on him and reach my hands forward, warming my skin over the flames that would undoubtedly burn me to ash if I gave it the chance._

There are moments in your life that define who you are, maybe even direct who you become. I didn't know it then, but looking back that had to be one of them. I considered Peter a friend and he hated me. I didn't care then that the closest thing I had to a friend wanted me dead.

Had I known who I was back then? Probably not. I only cared about staying on top and Maria's mission to dominate. Once I had accepted my new life as a murderer, it was easy enough to let myself be the monster she told me I was. And I was good at it.

Looking back now, thinking of the brutality I was capable of, I knew who I had been then. Evil.

But when I heard them approaching - one in the hallway outside the door of our room, the other two lurking outside the building - only one thing mattered. It wasn't who I had been that would be the deciding factor now, instead all that mattered was who I was today.

Who was I today?

I looked at the little girl sleeping ignorantly beside me.

A protector, _her_ protector, with the capacity to be evil, the desire to be good, the will to survive, and the ability to dominate.

I scooped her up, taking care not to wake her, and moved her to the front room, lying her down on the couch. I hadn't wanted her so close to the confrontation, but with the two vampires lurking below on the street, I had no choice. I needed to keep my eyes on her.

I moved toward the door, snarling softly to let my visitor now that he or she wasn't welcome. I heard my greeting echoed out in the hall.

I opened the door.

I would have laughed at my challenger's appearance, if I didn't know how well looks could deceive in our world. He was a couple of heads shorter than me with a wide build. His physicality showed strength but he probably lacked speed. He had been bearded in life while the top of his head was bare. He looked like a giant lawn gnome, but I kept that opinion to myself.

I _did _laugh out loud at his reaction to me. He hissed in fear and leapt away, keeping the wall to his back and crouching down defensively. All the time I'd spent alone, I'd allowed myself to forget how I look to other vampires. There was nothing deceiving about my looks. Hundreds of battle scars littered my body, like a neon light flashing the words "Fuck off!"

I was dangerous. Anyone who could see my face properly, not the way dull human vision perceived me, but really _see…_ They knew I was dangerous too.

I stood straighter and took one step forward, just to let him know I wouldn't be backing down.

"I didn't order room service," I told him.

He recovered quickly, straightening.

"We don't appreciate poaching." He growled.

And I had to give it to the overgrown lawn ornament, he was afraid, but he wasn't planning on backing down.

He was brave.

That was _very_ stupid of him.

I had the urge to rip his head off and burn him where he stood, but I restrained myself. I wasn't that monster anymore, or at least I was trying not to be, because I couldn't afford to be. The soft sigh from the sleeping girl behind me, reminded me just how much I couldn't afford to go back to that persona.

"Poaching?" I echoed, eyeing him speculatively.

"This is our city. You're trespassing."

"Poaching? Trespassing?" I gave a sharp humorless laugh. "Human words for human transgressions. Lay it out for me. How do three vampires keep a city?"

His lips curled away from his teeth, but he shook his head and answered.

"This city has a high crime rate. The humans don't notice extra bodies."

"So you live here comfortably and don't want to share. Understood."

He eyed me suspiciously. "You'll leave just like that?"

"At morning light." I thought by agreeing I would be saving myself a confrontation. But my terms weren't good enough.

"No. You leave _tonight_."

The problem was, his terms weren't good enough.

And I didn't like being challenged.

"Now we have a problem." I said shifting my weight.

I shivered as I struggled to contain my rage.

His stupidity increased; he thought I shivered in fear and that made him bolder.

"No, you have a problem. We don't appreciate you coming here, taking whatever you want without permission, and bringing your little death wish along for the ride."

"My little death wish?" I asked, struggling to keep the amusement from my face.

Did he have any idea what he was getting himself into?

"Your going to make an immortal child!"

I laughed at his assumption. Maybe I was crazy, but I wasn't that crazy.

"Don't be a moron," I told him.

"Then what are you doing with it?" He growled.

"_It."_ My amusement disappeared as quickly as it had come. _She _was no _it._

Before I could answer his question, my attention was diverted by the sounds of his two companions climbing up the side of the building and slipping in through the bedroom window. I hissed and moved back toward Isabella, angling my body so I would remain between her and the intruders. The stranger stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him.

Two females entered the room.

The first to enter had black hair and beady eyes, eyes that got significantly larger as she took in my scarred face and defensive posture. She hissed and her back arched, her body stuck between a retreat and lunge. She sidestepped closer to the male until she was close enough to touch him.

My gaze flickered to the second female, who froze under my scrutiny. She was afraid, but there was another part of her that was intrigued by me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She cocked her distinctly feline face in speculation; the curls of her bright red hair seemed to have a life of their own, floating around her head in a fiery halo.

"Rudeness isn't becoming," I hissed. "You intrude my place of rest and don't even introduce yourselves?"

"You intruded our home." The male growled. "Where was your introduction?"

But my eyes were back on the red haired female. She was too close. I growled and lurched forward. She leapt back. I smiled at her fear and frowned as it faded.

This was getting old.

"I'm Henry." He said after a moment of awkward silence. "This is my mate, Bridget-" he pointed to the dark haired female "- and our coven mate Victoria." He gestured to the redhead.

Bridget face remained impassive; Victoria smirked and inclined her head in a silent hello.

"Now you." He ordered.

"Jasper." I told him my name, guessing he wouldn't recognize it.

I was infamous. But anybody who knew me well enough to know my human name was either dead or smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

Henry was an idiot. He'd given me too much information. His mate; a bargaining chip. His "coven mate"; laughable. Vampires weren't known for their loyalty. If she was isolated she would be easy enough to destroy.

Henry seemed to relaxing now that I had told him my name. Did he really think he was running the show?

"I wonder," Bridget began and I heard the shadow of an Irish accent in her voice, "What a vampire is doing with a child?"

"Breaking the strictest of vampire laws?" Victoria supplied with a smile that was anything but friendly. "Home grown snack?"

I didn't justify it with an answer.

She moved a step closer. I raised a lip in warning.

"Or maybe that's not it at all…" She said, grinning. "Maybe you just like children?"

The tone she used when she asked the final question made my already tarnished soul feel dirtier than it already was and I knew what she meant by liking children. It was no compliment. I couldn't stop the snarl that escaped me at her gross implication.

"Ja..per?"

The four of us froze at that. The small voice mumbling behind me. The change of the heartbeat as her body switched from one state to another.

Isabella had woken up.

* * *

**Uh-oh. Bet you weren't expecting Victoria.**


End file.
